


Nero Angelo

by Engineerd



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Devil May Cry 5 (Game), F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-07-10 07:23:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19901965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineerd/pseuds/Engineerd
Summary: V finds the Devil Sword Sparda. As planned, he brings the sword straight to Nero.Dante wakes up about 2 hours too late.





	1. V, Dante, Kyrie

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to all the amazing authors in this fandom who inspire me to contribute myself.

_Part 1: V_

_June 15, 11:10 AM_

The Sparda was _fucking_ heavy. 

“Hey, V, we need to get a move on,” Griffon said, fluttering around. “Unless you want Nero to get skewered to death-”

“I’m trying,” V hissed through clenched teeth, lugging the Sparda behind him. “It is...heavier than anticipated.” 

“The weight of your old man’s disappointment, huh?”

V didn’t grace that with a response. Vergil had wielded the Force Edge before, briefly - the Sparda shouldn’t be that different. It should feel welcoming, a source of strength. Instead it was rebelling against V as much as a devil sword can with every step.

If Griffon could carry it, he would have the sword delivered straight to Nero’s lap. As it was, he was stuck walking. 

Shadow leapt into being right in front of V’s legs, forcing them to a stop. She only glanced at V for a second before she turned her head and stared at- 

“Of course,” V breathed, staring at the rugged remains of a phone both. “My thanks, Shadow.” He hobbled over, lugging the Sparda behind him, and dialed a number with arms trembling from exhaustion. 

“Hello?” 

“Nico,” V breathed. “I’ve found it. I need you to come quickly.” 

“Oh, hey V,” Nico answered. “Found what?” 

“The devil sword Sparda,” V said. “So that Nero can defeat Urizen.” 

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “What about Nero?” 

“There’s no time for this,” V snapped. “Nero’s life is at stake. I need you to come here so I can get the sword-”

“V, I just saw Nero not twenty minutes ago,” Nico interrupted. “We’re at the top of the Qlipoth. And he’s long gone by now. He’s already fighting Urizen.” 

V’s blood ran cold. There’s no way Nero should have been able to climb the Qlipoth that fast, he didn’t have the power - he had miscalculated. “Can you get him out?” he hissed. 

“Hell, no!” Nico squawked. “I’m not going in there!” 

V grit his teeth. “Then we’ll just have to hope young Nero holds out until we can deliver the sword to him. Come get me.” 

“Fine,” Nico spat. “On my way.” 

It took her an agonizingly long time to reach him. She cringed in his direction as he hauled himself and the Sparda into the passenger’s seat. “Drive,” he snapped. 

“I’m going, I’m going,” Nico said, flooring the gas. The wheels screeched as the van peeled forward. She glanced left at him quickly. “That the sword?” 

“The Devil Sword Sparda,” V affirmed, forcing himself to lean back into his seat. “What may very well mean the key to our success.” 

“Fucking hell, V,” Nico swore, swerving her way around bunches of roots. “You couldn’t have cued us into this any sooner?” 

“I didn’t...want to get your hopes up.” 

“Screw that!” Nico shouted. “You could have given us a hint - told Nero to slow down -“

“He’s better than I expected,” V spit. “I didn’t think he could make it so far so fast-”

“Then clearly you’ve never seen Nero pissed off before-”

“Nero will be _fine,”_ V hissed, knuckles whitening against the sword. “If he’s fast enough to make through the entire Qlipoth in less than an hour-”

“You better hope he’s fine or the world is doomed.” 

“You think I don’t know that?!” 

“Gee, I don’t know, V,” Nico said. “Keeping secrets, making demands, sticking to your whole mysterious shtick like you would burst into flames the second you told us the slightest thing-”

“Arguing isn’t going to help,” V interrupted. “Just drive.” 

Nico stuck out her tongue at him and floored it.

* * *

“Okay,” Nico said. “The rest of the path is a bunch of ledges, so this is the closest I can go. Nero went up thataway about an hour ago.” 

V was already hoping out of the van, the Sparda clunking its way down the van’s flooring behind him. With one final tug he dropped it to the ground. “See you soon,” V croaked, setting off in the direction she’d indicated. 

He’d made it all of six steps up the incline when she called after him, “Uh, you sure you’ve got that?” 

He whipped around, hair flying in his face. God, this is why Vergil always gelled it back. “You have any better ideas, Nicoletta? A flying sword carrier? A teleportation device, perhaps-”

“Oh my god, chill,” Nico said, hopping over with something bright red in her hands. He identified it a second later as one of Nero’s mechanical hands. “As a matter of fact, I _do_ have some spare rocket-powered hands, so why don’t you shut the hell up.” 

V deflated as Nico kneeled down next to the tip of the Sparda and painstakingly clicked the fingers of the hand into place around the spine. She made one last adjustment before tapping the base of the wrist and leaping back as the rocket came to life. 

Amazingly, it supported the weight of the sword. 

V frowned as he gingerly swung the hilt of the sword. Now that the other end was also supported, it was easy enough to maneuver. “You have some of Nero’s demonic energy wrapped up in that contraption.” 

“This is one of the ones he dropped off for repairs,” Nico said. “But they all do that, generally. The wonders of demon magic. You best be off now. Tell Nero my present’s just as good as yours.”

“Indeed,” V said. “My thanks, Nico. See you soon.” 

Even with the new support, getting the Sparda through the final channels of the Qlipoth was no easy task. The demons mindlessly chased after power, any power, and it took all of Griffon’s and Shadow’s and Nightmare’s tricks to get him through. He paused for only a second on the outside of the door - this close, his sense of Urizen was almost overwhelming - before bursting through. 

For the first time, he made eye contact with his other half. 

Urizen paused, hand outstretched, and cocked his head to look at V. 

Nero took advantage and rushed him, landing a solid blow to Urizen’s outstretched arm that made Urizen recoil and swat Nero out of the air with his other hand. Nero landed on his feet but doubled over, taking a moment to catch his breath. 

Nero was never normally out of breath. 

Urizen shook the blood off his arm and raised himself slowly out of his chair, founts of blood erupting at his feet where the droplets landed. “Humanity,” Urizen stated, with a voice that shook V down to his soul, “is a plague upon this world.” 

Nero whipped his head up, instantly poised for a comeback. “Nero!” V shouted instead, running over and pushing the devil sword Sparda into his hand. 

“V!” he shouted back, glancing at the Sparda in confusion. “This is Trish’s sword!” 

“Use it,” V ordered. 

“But-”

“I can hold onto yours if you prefer,” V said, grabbing at the - what was it, blue queen?

Urizen roared and Qluipoth roots burst from the ground, separating them. Nero dropped his mechanical sword and switched the Sparda to his living hand, plucking the red mechanical hand off with the other. “Hey, ugly, guess who just got new toys!” 

“The Sparda is inconsequential,” Urizen said, and then he shoot a fireball at Nero. 

V did his best to clear the obstacles in Nero’s path, but he could do little more than grant Griffon and Shadow a few hits before his limbs started shaking to the point of being uncontrollable and he needed his companions more to dodge than for anything useful. His own demonic power paled in comparison to Urizen, anyway. 

In stark contrast, the Sparda was clearly agreeing with Nero. His swipes were as deadly as they were accurate, keeping Urizen on the back foot often. Nero must be of their blood, V mused to himself, he had to be, to use the Sparda so easily. Dante’s son, in all likeliness. His own father couldn’t have had any more children- 

Urizen sent the Yamato to block Nero and sent a bubble of time-magic in V’s direction. V was too slow to dodge it, and then he was caught in the bubble and too slow to do anything but watch in horror as a fireball flew his way. 

“V!” 

There was an explosion and V was thrown backwards, hitting the back wall of Urizen’s royal chamber hard. He wheezed and rose up on shaking limbs, staring blankly at his limbs. 

Long cracks, running up and down each arm. As he watched, pieces of skin up and crumbled away. 

At least he wasn’t burned. 

“V, get out of here!” Nero screamed. He was missing any sort of mechanical hand at all, his left arm back to a stump. 

“V,” Urizen echoed. “Appropriate.” 

“Shut up!” Nero shouted, hitting the Yamato over and over. And Over. “Look at me, you piece of shit!” 

“Less than half of what we were,” Urizen continued, focusing only on V like Nero didn’t exist. “It was foolish of you to come here.” 

The Yamato’s crimson shield shattered under the force of Nero’s anger. “Hey, ugly! I was in line first!” 

“It would have been better if you never existed. _Die.”_

_“V!”_

V flinched and braced himself for the end. Instead of a ferocious impact, there was just a loud squelching sound. He opened his eyes to see Nero in front of him, impaled on a vine. “No,” he gasped.

Nero heaved up blood onto the plant almost cleaving him in two, and swung with the Sparda to sever the vine from the rest of the Qlipoth. “Run,” Nero ordered, his voice hoarse. His skin was glowing faintly blue. 

“But-” V didn’t have time to finish before he was jerked into the air by familiar talons on the nape of his coat. “Griffon! Put me down!” 

“Kill yourself later!” Griffon said. “Shadow’s not just in stasis, she’s almost discorporated! If we don’t get out now, we’re all toast!” 

“I can still-”

“Nero’s either going to pull off a miracle, or he didn’t inherit as much from Dante as we hoped,” Griffon said. _“You_ are just making things _worse.”_ He dropped V roughly next to the Devil May Cry van. More cracks appeared in V’s skin on landing, like spiderweb cracks on a shattering mirror. 

“V!” Nico said, hopping out the driver’s side door. “What happened?” 

“We gotta go,” Griffon said, nudging V by the back into the van. “Get back in!” 

V heaved himself into the passenger’s seat of the van. Each and every muscle in his body was trembling. 

“Where’s Nero?” 

“Still fighting,” V gasped. “He might - he might -”

“Holy shit,” Griffon swore, materializing in the space between the two seats. 

V recognized the phantom of demonic power raising goosebumps on the back of his neck. “Nero did something,” he said stupidly. 

“The place is gonna blow,” Griffon said. “Drive, girl!” 

Nico scowled, buckling her seatbelt. “I don’t take orders from a chicken.” 

“Nico, please,” V begged, staring up above at the lightshow vaguely visible from Urizen’s throne room. “We have to go now.”

“I do _not_ like this,” Nico muttered, but she started driving away anyways. She had just turned the van towards the when there was a ear-splitting _crack_ from the throne room, and Qlipoth started rumbling like an earthquake. “Shit!” 

“We’re not gonna make it!” Griffon screamed, hopping onto V’s lap. “New plan, V, ditch the van, I can get us down-”

“Are you _crazy?”_ Nico shrieked, flooring the gas suddenly. Griffon and V were thrown back into the seat as the van sped down a long bridge of Qlipoth. The color was slowly leeching out of the demonic plant, turning the sinister blue-black into a lifeless gray. “You guys’ll get crushed!” 

“The Qlipoth is dying,” V said, looking around. He threw out the remains of his demonic senses; Urizen’s presence was still there, as strong as the day he was born. Nero’s, however- 

The Qlipoth under them abruptly collapsed. Nico screamed as the van fell through the floor and was caught by nothing. 

There was nothing but empty space below them. And below that, cliffs. 

“V!” Griffon screamed. “Do something!” 

V screwed his eyes shut and clenched his fists as the van landed nose-first. The airbags inflated, catching them relatively gently, as the van was lowered carefully back to all four tires. 

Nico jerked upright, releasing the seatbelt and jumping out of the car. “Oh, god, V, tell me this demon is one of yours!” 

V hopped out of the van on also shaking legs. Griffon had de-materialized back into tattoo’s on V’s body - a good thing, too, or he’d have a beak lodged halfway to his stomach. “Thank you, Nightmare,” he drawled. “I know you must be tired. You can go back to resting now.” 

“I can’t believe it,” Nico said, watching as Nightmare dematerialized as well. “We’re alive. I haven’t been that scared since my first gun backfired.”

V stared at the remains of the Qlipoth above them, swaying slightly in the other direction now with its lack of support. He was too far away to sense Nero or Urizen anymore. “Nero killed it,” he said numbly, watching gray branches crumble to dust (in a pattern similar to what his limbs appeared to be trying). “The main body, anyway. The true roots are still lodged deep in hell.” 

“Man, I knew he could take down the bastard,” Nico said, planting her hands on her hips. “Now, if he could just bring my masterpieces down in one piece - ow!” 

V looked over to where Nico was rubbing her head. She looked down at the white pistol that had clattered to the floor and frowned. “What’s that doing here?” Nico asked, and then they both looked up. 

There lay Dante, cradled in the arms of a broken angel statue. 

* * *

Even with their fairly rough manhandling of Dante into the back of the van, he still didn’t wake up. This didn’t snap Nico out of her cheerful mood.

“We’re alive, Dante’s still alive,” she commented. “Today’s gonna be a good day, V. Now all we need to do is hook up with Lady and Nero again and we’ll be set.” 

V glanced up at the remains of the Qlipoth. There was still about half a stalk left, but it was crumbling steadily. ‘You forgot Trish,” he pointed out. 

“Who?” 

“Dante’s other business partner,” V explained. “She was captured along with Lady and...we thought, Dante, during the first attack.” 

“Rate we’re going, I’m sure we’ll find her,” Nico dismissed. “Probably be home by dinnertime.” 

“I hope you’re correct,” V said. He never really knew Trish, and he didn’t like dwelling on the portion of his life where he may have. “Although I’d rate waking up Dante and finding Nero as our top priorities, just in case.” 

“Nero will call,” Nico said. “He always does. As for Dante…” she glanced back at him in the rear-view mirror. “Maybe Lady will know what to do with him?”

They found Lady again, fully dressed, where Nico had dropped her off at an army outpost on the edge of the city. “Really?” V asked, looking around. “Here? With these humans?” 

“They have lots of guns,” Nico said. “Lady! Hey, Lady! We need your help." 

Lady jogged out to them, dressed in a passable version of her usual outfit. True to form, V could stop the outlines of at least two pistols on her person. “Finally,” Lady said. “Looks like you guys had all the fun without me, didn’t...hey, where’s Nero?” 

V stilled, but beside him Nico waved the question away. “We last saw him fighting Urizen,” Nico said, gesturing to where the Qlipoth used to be. “Clearly he’s getting his revenge like he always dreamed.” 

Lady frowned, seemingly having some sort of debate with herself. “He’s probably fine,” she answered eventually. “I mean, Dante always came out okay.” 

“Speak of the Devil,” Nico said. 

Lady’s face lit up. “No. Really?” 

“In the back of the van!” Nico exclaimed, leading the way. “He’s sleeping something real fierce. We were hoping you could help with that, actually.” 

Lady hopped up into the van and smiled when she saw Dante. “Yeah, he’ll be okay,” Lady said, fingers running over his pulse-point. "He passes out sometimes, but I can wake him up."

"How?" V asked.

Lady pulled out a handgun from behind her back and pointed it directly at Dante's forehead. "Muscle memory," she said, flicking off the safety.

* * *

_Part 2: Dante_

_June 15th, 1:11 PM_

Dante flinched and rolled off the side of the - couch? Where was he? "I'm up, I'm up," he croaked, face down on the floor of wherever-he-was. "Geez, Lady."

"Told you guys," Lady said, matter-of-fact.

Dante groaned and heaved himself into a sitting position, blinking and squinting in the sunlight.

"Oh, man," a girl with a heavy southern accent drawled, hanging on Lady's arm. "I thought for sure you were going to kill him."

"I've tried," Lady said. "A little bullet in the head wouldn't stop Dante."

"Stop telling the kids all my secrets," Dante huffed, looking around at all of them. Lady was here, looking a little tired but not too worse for the wear. V was leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed and looking beat up as hell. "Who are you, anyway?"

The girl looked at him with wide eyes. "N-Nicoletta Goldstein," she said. "Granddaughter of Nell Goldstein, the legendary gunsmith."

"I knew Nell," Dante said, reaching behind him to grab - oh crap. One was missing. He pulled out Ebony and gestured to her. "You happen to have the other one of these?"

To his surprise, she pulled out Ivory and tossed it right to him. "Fell out of your damn pocket while you were unconscious. Take care of those."

He smiled - she didn't much look like her, but she reminded him of Nell, all right. "Will do. Thanks, Nicoletta."

She snorted, relaxed a little. "Nico is fine."

Holstering Ebony and Ivory back in place, Dante pushed himself to his feet and looked around. There wasn't much head space - they were in a van. "This is Nero's van," Dante said belatedly, finally placing it. "What are - how did we get here? Where's Nero?" he looked around again. "And where's Trish?"

Lady, Nico, and V all looked at each other. V spoke first. "How much do you remember, Dante?"

Dante sighed. "I remember Urizen's temper tantrum," he said, strolling past all of them to push open the van's back door and hop out. "And I remember a house plant that needs - what the hell happened to the Qlipoth?"

Nico popped out next to him. "Nero happened to it," she said. "Blew it up straight to hell, as far as we can tell."

Dante could feel his jaw clenching, and forced his voice to remain under control as he turned to V. "I told you to leave Nero out of it."

V was pale and eyeing the hop from the van to the ground like it might be too much for him. "You were missing. Presumed dead. Trust me, if I had any other option I wouldn't have dreamed of using that... _child."_

Dante tensed. "Where's Nero now?"

"We last saw him fighting Urizen," Nico said. "V brought him that sword, didn't ya?"

V had lowered himself to a sitting position on the edge of the van, and was still leaning heavily against his cane. "I brought to Nero the devil sword Sparda," he said. "Such that he may use its power to defeat the demon king."

Dante clenched his fists. "You had no right to give away my things, V. You should have waited-"

"It's been a month, Dante," V snapped. "Urizen defeated you, and Nero could use the sword. He was good with it."

He blinked. A _month?_ He'd slept for a _month?_ Nothing had ever even managed to knock him unconscious before, let alone...

"You okay there, Dante?" Lady asked. "You know, I'm kind of pissed at Urizen for keeping me down for a month, myself. I just got up this morning. I'm in a bit of a mood for seeing if there's any ass left to kick." 

God, he loved Lady. "Well, if you're in the mood," Dante said, offering Lady his arm. "I shouldn't let a Lady go unescorted."

"I'd kick your ass if I weren't using you for your body," Lady threatened. "Give me a lift, dragonfly-boy." 

"Excuse you," Dante said. "My demon form is very intimidating. It's shaped like fear." 

"Maybe a mix between a dragonfly and a hummingbird." 

"Uh," Nico said. "If you guys what a lift, I can-"

"That's okay, kids," Dante said. "Relax. Take a load off. The grown-ups are here now."

"Wait," V said suddenly. "There's something I have to-" 

Dante triggered, grabbed Lady around the waist, and pushed off. He couldn't fly that far using Devil Trigger, or necessarily control his path real well, but _boy_ could he pick up speed. They crashed at the base of the Qlipoth, kicking up loads of dust. Lady peeled herself off him and immediately started coughing. 

"Sorry," Dante said, phasing out of Devil Trigger and brushing the dust off. "Man, sure looks different here than last time, doesn't it?"

Lady straightened up and looked around. "It's definitely a dead evil plant this time, yeah. I remember having to leapfrog lots of sentient thorns our last trip." 

Dante pulled out Ivory and shot a quick round of bullets into all the walls around them. "Hello! Anybody home?" His voice echoed in the empty chamber. 

"Nero really did a number on it, I guess." 

Dante hummed in agreement and started marching forward. His back felt naked without the Rebellion - he had the fragmented hilt still caught in his belt, but it wasn't the same. "So what happened to you and Trish after you-know-who bitch slapped me into June?" 

Lady kept one gun in her hand but otherwise walked normally beside him. "Uh, this is going to be awkward. Don't get mad when I tell you, ok? We didn't mean to team up with him." 

"What?" 

"Urizen made servants out of us," Lady said, not looking at Dante. "Gave us outer demon armor and used our souls as batteries." 

He stopped at stared at her. "You're kidding. Vergil wouldn't-"

"I'm not," Lady said. "Urizen sent me to stop Nero this morning. Nero won, and here I am." She finally looked up at Dante. "Are you sure Urizen is Vergil? Just because V said - who we still know nothing about, by the way-"

"He's Vergil," Dante said. "He knew me. I'd...that's Vergil. I don't know V's deal either, but Vergil's taken advantage of innocent humans in the past." 

Lady snorted. "Innocent. He's got three giant demon familiars, Dante." 

"He's Nero's age," Dante said. "Speaking of. If you were a giant throne room falling from space, where would you land?" 

Lady shrugged. "Gotta be close, right?" She paused, and then asked, "So if Nero was using the Sparda, does that mean-"

"I'm gonna stop you there," he interrupted. "I haven't even told Nero yet." 

Lady gave him an exasperated look. "Nero's not yours," she said. "I know you would have come clean by now if he was. He's not yours, and there's only one other person who-"

"Lady, _stop,"_ Dante said. "I can't. I'm sorry, I just - I can't." 

"You always get the same look on your face when you're thinking about him," Lady said. 

"You've known me too long," he shot back. "I used to be mysterious, damn it." 

She snorted. 

"What? I was!" 

"Sure you were," Lady said. "The mystery of who could try and fail to cook an omelette every day for a _week-"_

"You were the one who signed me up for an egg delivery service!" 

"You still owe me for that, by the way."

"Yeah, yeah," Dante groused. Lady smirked at him. "Are we searching or what?" 

They didn't find hide nor hair of Urizen, or Trish. The closer they got to the center of the Qlipoth the lower the ground sloped. 

Lady stopped at the edge of a cliff and stared down at the eternal drop below. "Oh, god," she said. "The stupid plant came straight from Hell. Look at this, Dante. There's still a giant hole in the ground." 

Dante came up next to her and squinted at Hell. "Yep," he said. "That's a hole, all right." 

"We've got to do something." 

"It might close up naturally," Dante said, tilting his head as he considered. "If the Qlipoth is truly dead - and it seems to be - there won't be anything to hold it open anymore."

She snorted. "When's our luck ever been that good?" 

"Well, then," Dante said. "The Yamato can close it." 

Lady stared at the hole. "Think Nero managed to nab it back?" 

Dante pressed his lips together. "We should have found him by now," he admitted softly. 

"Think maybe he fell a little farther?" 

Dante's expression fell impossibly even flatter. "There's no way he would have gone to Hell." 

"Willingly," Lady said. 

* * *

They were walking back into town when an army jeep pulled up next to them. "Hey, kid!" a soldier said, hopping out of the van. "I found something - oh. Sorry, citizen, I thought you were someone else. You should get out of here. I know it looks dead, but we haven't cleared the perimeter yet." 

Dante narrowed his eyes at the soldier. "No offense taken, crew cut. Who are you looking for?" 

The soldier stared at him. 

"Let me guess," Dante said. "White hair, dark coat, about my build?"

"One arm, issues with authority?" Lady added. 

The soldier looked back and forth between them. "Yeah, that's the guy." 

"Employee of mine," Dante said. "What's up?" 

The soldier reached into the jeep and pulled out something that made Dante's heart sink like a stone. "I'm pretty sure this is his," the soldier said. "Think you could pass it onto him for me?" 

_Oh_

_please not that, anything but that_

_no no no no no n o_

Dante grabbed the handle of the Red Queen numbly and rasped, "yeah. Will do." 

* * *

_Part 3: Kyrie_

_June 16th 8:44 PM_

The fall of the demon tree was all over the news. She tried calling immediately, but signals to Red Grave still weren't going through. She invoked some favors to have some other families look after the orphans, and stayed up all night worrying over the phone. 

A call never came, and then she slept most of the day out of pure exhaustion. 

A knock on her front door woke her up. She jolted upright from her doze off the couch, staring at the front door, and felt a spark of recognition at the very top of the Red Queen's handle she could see through the window. "Nero," she breathed, jumping to her feet and wrenching the door open. "Nero, you're ba - oh. Dante?" 

The corner of Dante's mouth twitched. "Hi, Kyrie," he said. "Can I come in?" 

She nodded and stepped aside to let him through. "I'm...glad to see you're alright," she said, her eyes glued to his back. "We were worried about you." He was definitely wearing Nero's sword. 

Dante turned around, hands shoved in his pockets and mouth set in a firm line. "Kyrie, after-"

"Would you like something to drink?" she heard herself say. 

Dante let out a breath. "Maybe later. I-"

"Or eat," she continued. 

"Kyrie-"

"Let me at least take your coat." 

"We didn't find a body," Dante blurted out. 

Kyrie's hands clenched into fists at her sides, and she sat down heavily on the couch. Dante was still wearing Nero's sword. She stared at the floor, blinking furiously, and thought about when Nero had kissed her goodbye.

"I'm sorry, Kyrie," Dante said, and then turned towards the door. 

"Wait," she called out, jumping to her feet. "Tell me what happened. You owe me that." 

Dante sighed but turned back towards her. "What do you want to know?" he said. 

"Everything," she answered. 

"Here are the facts," Dante said. His voice was steady. "Nero fought a monster to save my friend Lady. He fought his way to the top of the Qlipoth - the demon tree. He then fought the demon king. The demon tree fell, and the demon king is gone." 

Kyrie blinked once more and felt tears slide down her cheeks. "And so is Nero." 

"He might not be dead," Dante said. "But Kyrie...even if he isn't, I can't say for sure what happened to him, and if or when he'd be able to return." 

"I understand," she whispered, voice too wobbly to speak any higher. "Thank you for..." her voice died. "Thank-"

Dante's hand rose feebly, like he wanted to touch her but wasn't sure if he should, and Kyrie rushed him, throwing her arms around Dante and sobbing into his jacket. "I'm sorry," she mouthed, not sure if he could hear her, not sure if she wanted him to, not sure what she was apologizing for. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." 

Dante wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on her head. "I'm so sorry," he said. "It should have been me." 

Kyrie took a few deep rasping breaths. "Nero was really proud to be a part of Devil May Cry, you know," she said. 

She felt something wet drop onto the top of her head, and Dante squeezed her just a little bit tighter. “Would you like to keep the Red Queen?” he asked. His voice was so even, you would have never known he was crying. 

“No,” Kyrie said. “Thank you, but I think you’ll get more use out of it.” 

* * *

Life went on. It had gone on when her parents died, and it had gone on when Credo died, and it stubbornly went on now. 

Dante took the Red Queen and vanished back to Devil May Cry. She assumed. She’d never actually kept close track of Nero’s business partners, and Dante didn’t reach out to her again. 

Nico tried to offer her the van. She refused. Nico hung around for a few weeks, but there wasn’t much work for such a uniquely qualified engineer on Fortuna, so she left too. 

Kyrie reluctantly helped place the orphans in other homes. Nero had provided her main source of income, and she didn’t have the money to feed three growing boys on her own anymore. 

(Or the willpower.)

(She had been so stupid, hadn’t she? Hadn’t she been taught this lesson enough? Love had made Nero immortal in her eyes. He promised her forever, and she had believed him, promised him the same. She didn’t know what she was going to do without him. All of her plans for the future had implicitly included Nero at her side. Without him, what did she have?) 

Kyrie sold her house and moved out of Fortuna. (She’d only ever lost people there.)

Nero had always liked the mainland. 


	2. Trish, Nico, Urizen, Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lady leads the gang in trying to rescue Nero from hell. Dante wants no part in it.

_ Part 4: Trish  _

_ Unknown _

Trish wasn’t aware of most of her time. The Cavaliere Angelo armour only delegated enough resources to engage her consciousness with the outside world when it needed her expertise. She knew that she worked for Urizen. She knew of her counterparts, including the Artemis - 

_ Not the Artemis anymore,  _ the Cavaliere Angelo rebuked.  _ We have to help break in the new partner.  _

Who? 

_ Master calls him the Nero Angelo.  _

Mudus’s black angel? He’s dead. 

_ Master will best Mundus in every way.  _

The old Nelo Angelo had been distant, aloof, with little interest in bloodlust. He could rarely be goaded into a fight. But once he was - or once Mundus had ordered - he was nigh unstoppable.

The new Nero Angelo was a wreck. He moved like a puppet whose strings had been cut. His armor was constantly flaking apart, no matter what Urizen gave him. One time when his visor cracked, Trish caught a glimpse of his skin - unearthly white skin stained with pitch blank viens. Red eyes, blood leaking from his sockets. Laughably useless in a fight. 

Urizen was going to use this soul to best Mundus’s black angel? 

_ It is not our place to question Master,  _ Cavaliere Angelo said. 

Well, it shouldn’t be Urizen’s place to be so stupid.

Cavaliere Angelo kept her under a long time after that. 

* * *

She gets assigned to watch over Nero Angelo a lot. Her unique abilities make it easy to keep him from getting himself skewered as Urizen led his army on a recruiting mission throughout hell. 

Her duties get progressively easier as they spend more time in the underworld. 

_ The Nero Angelo is getting stronger,  _ Cavaliere Angelo said. 

Souls don’t get stronger. If anything, being used as a battery should be having the opposite effect. Urizen must be doing something different with the soul of the Nelo Angelo. He wasn’t simply using it for a power source - he was trying to remold it.  How? 

_ It is not our place to question Master, _ Cavaliere Angelo said. It sounded nervous. 

What's Urizen doing to the Nero Angelo? 

_ Would you like to find out firsthand? _

Trish shut up, because she wasn't stupid. Whatever Urizen was doing to the Nero Angelo, he was succeeding.

For the first time, Trish thinks she maybe respects the soul trapped in the black angel. They held out against the torture for a good amount of time before Urizen got to him in the end. 

Urizen gets to everyone in the end. 

* * *

_ Part 5: Nico  _

_ May 23rd 8:32 AM _

Dante, legendary devil hunter, friend and patron of her grandmother, and overall badass...was a poor substitute for Nero. 

God. She’d be so sure Nero would come back, that day. Nero had walked off falling through buildings and smacked into walls and even getting his arm cut off and left for dead by the bastard king Urizen himself. Nero had won. He should have walked it off. 

(“You know, he traded too,” Dante said to her once, when she’d stopped by with a delivery late at night. He’d smelled more like alcohol than a bourbon bar next to a whorehouse. “Worse at it than you, though.”

“Shut up and give me the demon parts,” Nico demanded, and that was the last and only time Dante brought up Nero voluntarily.) 

Still, as reclusive and sullen as he might be, Dante was her best supplier of demonic tidbits and her best-paying customer for whatever weapons she was able to craft out of them, so she stuck fairly close to Devil May Cry’s base of operations. 

Usually. 

“Hey, Nico.” 

Nico looked up from the workbench she was renting for the week. “Hey, Lady,” she greeted. “Haven’t seen you in a while.” 

“Don’t you have your own workshop?” 

Nico shrugged. “Van gets cramped,” she admitted. “Sometimes having the space helps, and the owners don’t mind me. They know I’m professional.” She put down the project in her hand and brushed them off on her jeans. “What do ya need?” 

Lady leaned against a support beam across from her. “You still have that van?” 

“Yeah,” Nico said, suspicious. 

“I was thinking a road trip,” Lady said. 

“Where?” 

Lady crossed and uncrossed her arms. “There’s a site up near the mountains,” she said. “It’s good for trying to summon demons.” 

“And you need me because…?” 

“Who doesn’t like a road trip buddy?” Lady asked. 

Nico sighed, but didn’t hide the smile quirking on her lips. “Yeah, alright. I’m driving, though. I don’t need you messing up my wheels on the way to kill whatever it is you’re after.”

“Great,” Lady said. “Can we make a small stop at the city of Gloucester?” 

“Gloucester?” Nico asked. “What the heck do you want in that dump?” 

“Catch up with an old friend,” Lady said. “You know her. There’s some stuff I’d rather ask both of you at the same time.” 

Nico rolled her eyes. “You’re paying for gas.” 

“Fine,” Lady said. “How soon can we head out?” 

* * *

Lady didn’t just send them to the slow, out-of-the-way, insignificant city of Gloucester. 

She sent them to a Gloucester Walmart. 

“The most common store in the country?” Nico asked. “Lady, you know we got these back in Capulet-”

Lady waved her off. “It’s about what’s inside the store.”

“Uhh, I think the merchandise will be the same-” Lady stalked off, leaving Nico to scramble behind her. “Lady!” 

Lady wasn’t that tall but  _ damn  _ she could speedwalk. Nico trotted along next to her to keep up, watching helplessly as Lady grabbed the first employee she saw and asked to speak to their manager. 

“Lady!” Nico snapped. “What are you doing, scaring the-”

“Trust me,” Lady said, smirking as the employee rolled his eyes and walked away. “The reason we’re here is for the manager.”

“You’re being weird as shit, Lady. Even for you.” 

Lady let out a long sigh. “I know I am. I’d say I was sorry if I meant it. I just...couldn’t risk you saying no.” 

“Why the hell would I say no to visiting the manager of a Walmart?” Nico said. “Just who is this guy? The antichrist? Morally questionable client? Do not say a guy you want to hook me up with, Lady, or I will-”

“Nico?”

Nico stopped her rant and turned around, staring gobsmacked at the Walmart manager. “Kyrie?” 

Kyrie stared back at the two of them, seemingly lost for words. She looked...modern. Back on Fortuna she’d always favored the long skirts and bright colors, but now her hair was short and her jeans were skinny and  _ how did she end up managing the day shift of a Walmart in the middle of nowhere?  _

“Wow,” Kyrie said. “Hi. What’s it been, a year?” 

“Hi, Kyrie,” Lady said. “Sorry to ambush you like this, but we need your help. Do you think you could step outside with us to talk?” 

Kyrie blinked. “I’m in the middle of my shift.”

It didn’t take long for Lady to talk Kyrie into ditching the rest of her time. “It’s about Nero,” Lady said. “I want to try and summon him back.” 

* * *

They settled into the back of the Devil May Cry van, Nico passing out beers from the mini-fridge. Kyrie took one, Nico noted idly, but didn’t drink it. 

“Dante and I worked out a summoning ritual,” Lady said. “It’s super accurate. We can summon a being by name. We’ve gotten minor demons with it.”

“Uh-huh,” Kyrie said, her fingers idly tapping the beer can. “And where’s Dante now?” 

“Back at his shop, probably,” Lady said. “If he’s not near passed out in a bar. He hasn’t been handling his defeat real well.” 

Nico snorted. “Dante ever lost a fight before?” 

“To be honest?” Lady said. “No. Not as long as I’ve known him. No one he hasn’t gotten back up to beat later.” 

“How do you know Nero’s still alive?” Kyrie asked quietly. 

Lady looked her dead in the eye. “I don’t, but that kid’s a tough cookie. It’s completely in the realm of possibility that he just accidentally fell to hell with the Qliphoth and has been looking for a way out ever since. We just need to provide the door.” 

“And we can get him back?” Nico asked. 

“I’m going to be honest with you two,” Lady said. “Dante and I tried the ritual with Trish, and we couldn’t get her. But Trish is a full demon. Nero is only a quarter - maybe a half at best, if I’m way off - and he belongs naturally on Earth in a way she doesn’t. Plus we have a secret weapon.” 

Kyrie raised an eyebrow. “Me?” 

“If there’s anything in heaven or hell that kid’s connected with, it’s you,” Lady said. 

Nico cleared her throat. “Well, shit. If you put it that way, it’s worth trying, right?” 

“I think so,” Lady said. “Kyrie?” 

Kyrie stared into the depths of her full can of beer. “Nero would do it for me,” she whispered, and then slowly raised her eyes to meet theirs. “I’m in.” 

“Yes!” Nico cheered, jumping to her feet. “Devil summoning, here we come. How long’s the drive, Lady?” 

* * *

They met up with another old friend at the summoning sight, someone else she had barely seen since the day the Qlipoth fell. 

“V!” Nico called, jumping out of the van and strutting over to him. To be honest, he looked like death warmed over and trampled by a stampede, all visible skin wrapped in bandages and leaning on the cane like his life depended on it, but he was here. 

He startled at the sound of his name, but smiled when he saw her. “Nico,” he said. “It’s good to see you.” 

“Nice to see you too, stranger,” she said. “What have you been up to lately?” 

“Sleeping,” V said, deadpan. 

She laughed. God, V and Lady being here made feel like she was back a year ago, like Nero was going to pop up any second. “So you in on the whole raising hell plan?” 

The smile slid off V’s face, and he sighed heavily. “Yes,” he said. “I’m here to provide what little support I can. I owe Nero that much.” 

“I’m sure he won’t blame ya,” Nico said. “I mean, it was just a sword, right? Same thing probably woulda happened anyway.” 

V shot her a scandalized look. “Nicoletta Goldstein,” he said. “Just a sword? What has become of you?”

“Shut up,” she drawled, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “I’m not in the mood for dopey workers, today, that’s all. We’ve got a dumbass to rescue.” 

“It would be better if Dante were here,” he said. “Did Lady say anything to you about him?” 

“No,” Nico said, frowning. "Didn’t mention him much. Why isn’t he?” 

V’s mouth twisted into a frown. “He refused to be a part of it, and in typical Dante fashion, did not explain.” 

Nico put her hands on her hips. “Well, you an’ me never needed Dante, anyway. We’ll do it, you’ll see.” 

“I appreciate the confidence, however misguided it may be.”

“A fool who persists in his own folly will become wise.” 

V’s jaw dropped off again. “You read Blake!” 

Nico shrugged, enjoying herself. Her favorite part of her job was being a better engineer than anyone else, but her  _ second  _ favorite part of her job was the look on people’s faces when she delivered them her perfect creation. “Well, I had some free time, and you made it look like fun. I don’t know if I’d do it again.” 

“Knowledge is life with wings,” V said. 

She waved him off. “Whatever. We doing a summoning or what?” 

It turns out, they were, but being a just a human with no particularly large knowledge of demonic rituals didn’t give her much to do. She stood next to Kyrie while Lady and V’s familiars strutted around, drawing sigils on the ground and in Griffin’s case, doing some weird pattern in the air. 

“Your pet chicken’s quiet today,” Nico observed. 

V, passing close to her, smirked. “Griffin had nothing useful to contribute to the subject.” 

“Well, I’m glad he’s helping,” Kyrie said. She was hugging her arms against herself, looking out around them in apprehension. 

“Relax, girl,” Nico tried. “Just wait. Can’t get any less Nero than we have now, right?” 

She smiled weakly. “I’m nervous, I suppose. It’s been a long time since…” 

“Kyrie, I’m just an engineer, but even I know that if this thing doesn’t work it won’t be because of you,” Nico said. “I’m real good judging parts. Trust me.” 

“Alright!” Lady shouted from across the clearing. “Let’s do this!” 

Nico headed to the back of the clearing, settling in a position near the van with a gun in her hand in case anything unexpected came out of the portal. Lady started chanting, and V shot a beam of white light directly into the ground and Kyrie’s feet. Nico squinted against the brightness, adjusting her grip on the gun as something vaguely Nero-sized - 

_ Fuck, that’s a demon.  _

A fucking Proto Angelo, by the looks of it. Black armor, fraying cape. Kyrie scrambled backwards as V’s familiars dive-bombed the demon, who looked around slowly at all of them before striding away like they were beneath his notice. 

“Wait!” Kyrie shouted, and the Proto Angelo paused. 

Lady shot the Kalina Ann II and hit the Angelo straight in the chest, and that’s when the demon pulled out the sword and - Nico knew that sword. Her jaw dropped open in panic as she stared at V, but V was summoning Nightmare and the Angelo -  _ he was wielding it left-fucking handed, the fucking Sparda, shit, shit-  _

“NERO?!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. 

The Angelo - Nero - sliced Nightmare in half and punched the loose top half in Lady’s direction, causing her to dive out of the way to avoid being squashed. V was out cold. The Angelo didn’t even look at Kyrie before he sheathed his sword and hauled ass out of the clearing. 

He’d never even noticed Nico was there. 

“Shit,” Lady said. “Everyone ok?” 

Kyrie was kneeling next to a prone V, all his familiars contained away. “He’s unconscious,” Kyrie said. “But nothing visible other than that. We should get him inside.” 

Lady nodded, re-holestering her rocket launcher. “Well, that did not go as planned,” she said. 

“That was the Sparda,” Nico said hoarsely, and then cleared her throat and trotted over to them. “That was the Sparda!” she repeated, gesturing in the direction the Angelo had run. 

“The what?” Kyrie said. 

“The Devil Sword Sparda,” Nico said, looking to Lady with pleading eyes. “That’s the sword Nero was using when he fought Urizen the last time.” 

Lady caught her drift right away, paling at the words. “No. That wasn’t - he wouldn’t let himself - Nero  _ won _ .” 

“That was Nero,” Nico said. “He’s gone full demon.”

“How? Urizen’s dead.” 

“Why else would Nero be like that? He was taken over by Urizen. He’s a prisoner-fighter now, like you were.” 

“Oh, god, I hope you’re wrong,” said Lady. 

Kyrie turned back down to V, pressing her fingers into his wrist to take a pulse and avoiding eye contact with anyone. Her lips were pressed into a firm line. “If that was Nero,” she said to the ground, “he’ll come back to me.” 

“Kyrie,” Nico started gently, “You don’t understand. He’s-”

_ “He’ll come back to me,”  _ Kyrie snapped, whipping her head up and glaring. “Nero’s always come back for me. Every single time. So don’t tell me I don’t understand, Nico. He’ll come back for me or die trying.” 

Nico raised her hands in the air and glanced at Lady with wide eyes. She wasn’t poking that bear again, but she’d seen what Lady had been like with her own eyes. 

That was Nero, and if he came back it would be to kill them. 

* * *

_ Part 6: Urizen _

_ May 23, 2:33 PM _

Nero Angelo was supposed to be out demonstrating his power to the lesser scum that would serve as an invasion force. The captain of that particular unit of scum reported that Nero Angelo had never shown up. 

It wouldn’t do for his mightiest lieutenant to go missing, so Urizen sent out the others after him. Even Cavaliere, the fastest, reported nothing. 

“Master,” Malphas said last. “I have used my magic to track the Nero Angelo. He is back on earth.” 

" _Earth?”_ Urizen hissed. He was furious he’d been tricked. Nero Angelo should have been loyal by now - loyal to him, not the precious _human realm._ He hated that place, that place that stole people from him time and time again. “How did he escape?” 

“There’s no trace from here, my lord,” Malphas said. “He must have been summoned by the overlanders.” 

He relaxed infinitesimally at the information. His creation had not abandoned him - this was good news. “He’ll need to be retrieved,” he said. “Prepare the soil.” 

Malphas bowed. “Yes, Master.” 

* * *

The creation of Nero Angelo was not a decision Urizen had made lightly. The boy Nero Angelo had been before - Urizen had never bothered to find out the name - was nothing more than a nuisance, until he'd retrieved the Sparda and was suddenly a threat. 

To wield the Sparda, the boy must carry some of Sparda’s power within him. He must be a relative - after all, Dante had sacrificed himself for this boy. Dante’s son? 

_ “Die,”  _ he had ordered the boy, the one who dared to draw his blood.  __

The boy had glared up at him, a familiar edge in his hate-filled eyes of ice, and for a moment, Urizen hesitated. 

And in that moment, the boy had grabbed the Yamato  _ (how? she had no other loyalties-)  _ and plunged it into the Qlipoth with a surge of demonic energy. It would have been enough to kill any who weren’t used to the Yamato’s edge. 

Urizen had plunged to hell, the boy landing spent and unconscious from the stunt at his feet. He kicked the boy in the ribs and moved to immediately bash his head in, but the Yamato called  _ stop,  _ so he reconsidered _.  _

Yamato was right. The boy obviously contained great power, to wield the greatest of his father’s swords. Dante’s son or not, it would be a waste to kill him. Urizen relented, and directed his power on the boy instead to create an armour for his containment. He needed a focal point; the Sparda was there, it would do. The boy was a poor trade for the Qliphoth, but in time he would make Urizen’s most powerful lieutenant, greater than even Malphas, greater even than any of Mundus’s deadly weapons- 

_ Nero,  _ the name came to him, from a memory he couldn’t quite resolve. It was a solid name for his first in command, a name that would strike terror into the hearts of his memories.  _ Nero Angelo.  _

“Nero Angelo,” he addressed the boy, encasing the boy in the Sparda-convened armour. The boy twitched into wakefulness, and immediately started struggling. “Resistance is futile.” 

The boy’s mouth was clamped shut inside his armor. Maybe one day he would earn his jaw back. 

“Gather my people,” Urizen ordered, gazing around the hellscape they’d fallen into. He would have to rethink his strategy. “Kill any you see fit.” 

* * *

The boy kept breaking his armour. Urizen laboriously struck the boy down and remade Nelo Angelo every time. 

His other lieutenants were disdainful. “You’re wasting your time,” Cavaliere told him once, arms crossed in front of her. “He’s pathetic.”

Urizen struck her down too for her disrespect, leaving her writhing in pain next to the boy on the ground while he fixed his creations. 

* * *

Nero Angelo eventually submitted, as all submitted, his will evaporated away like morning dew in the dawn of Urizen’s power. Nero Angelo was a warrior like no other, and the Sparda was now literally an extension of himself. Urizen watched with pride as Nero Angelo slaughtered his opponents, gathering power. Hell was good for him. So good, in fact, that Urizen delayed his return to Earth just to let his lieutenants grow. 

Until Nero Angelo vanished one day. 

That was the day Urizen replanted the Qliphoth. 

* * *

_ Part 7: Lady  _

_ May 24th, 10:12 AM  _

Lady had known Dante for close to twenty-five years. She’s seen him happy, she’d seen him apathetic, she’s seen him cry, and she’s seen him pissed off. 

There was no way this wasn’t going to end without Dante getting pissed off, so she barged into Devil May Cry and started immediately. “Well, the good news is that Nero’s probably alive. The bad news is that he’s currently the battery-power for Urizen’s latest monster. You’re probably going to have to be the one to track him down.” 

Dante, whose bed upstairs seemed to primarily be for show these days, jerked up from where he was leaning back at his desk with a magazine over his face. He blinked at her, and then shook his head like a dog. “What?” 

“Morning, Dante,” Lady said. “Remember when I said that we should try to summon Nero and then you said it was a terrible idea? Guess what I did after you stormed off.” 

His brow furrowed. “Lady,” he said, almost growling. “What happened?” 

“What happened is I got your damned nephew back,” Lady said. “Unfortunately-”

There was a bang as Dante jumped to his feet and the chair he was sitting on hit the floor. “You  _ what?”  _ he said. “I told you not to-”

“You’re not my boss.”

“Leave Nero  _ out of it,”  _ he said. “I had one rule.  _ One rule.  _ First V, now you-”

“Nero was already in it, Dante,” Lady said. “And look, ok, maybe he’s a little mind controlled right now, but I’m sure you can break through to him.”

He gave a short, incredulous laugh. “Me. Right. Tell me about Nero, Lady.” 

She didn’t like that laugh - hated it instantly, actually - but continued anyway. “He was covered head-to-toe in armor, like I was,” she said. “Still basically humanoid. Fights the same. He’s using the Sparda still.” 

“Black armor,” Dante said. “Big sword. We need to take him out. Did he recognize you?”

Lady had known Dante a long time. Most of her life, at this point. She’s seen him happy and satisfied in his career and she’s seen him spiraling out of control. Right now, Dante’s one blow away from spinning like a pinwheel. 

“No,” she answered anyway, because that was the way to get Nero back, and once Nero was back, he’d ground Dante. He’d always been good like that. 

“No,” Dante echoed, and he gave her a smile that was all teeth. “Of course not.” 

God, she really missed Trish. Trish was also excellent at smacking Dante out of his moods. Once they had Nero back, he might be able to guide them to her, because there was no way Trish was dead either, no matter what Dante may think. “So, now you know,” Lady said. “You up for it or what?” 

“You know me, Lady,” Dante said. “I’m up for anything.” 

“Great,” she said, all business. “My car is out-”

“I think I’ll be faster on my own,” he interrupted smoothly, cutting her out. 

“You could probably use support,” she said. “Nero’s no joke-”

"I think you’ve done enough, Lady,” Dante said, and then he brushed past her, not even bothering to close the shop door behind him. She heard the roar of his motorcycle and he tore off and sighed to herself. Ok, so she didn’t exactly know all Dante’s ticks but - still. Isolating himself? Classic Dante. 

* * *

Lady followed him, of course, because she’s the kind of person who sees things through. To her annoyance, Dante was faster without her, so she was stuck chasing after him. Tracking is tracking, at least, and she’d done enough work as a private investigator to make her decent at this sort of thing. 

Dante went to the summoning sight first. He must have picked up on Nero’s trail, because he continued on foot through the woods. The path swerved through the hills at the base of the mountain and eventually settled into a fairly direct line southeast, towards...Lady tried to think. No big cities - nothing but woods and marshland and highways, really, until you got to the shore. There were a couple touristy towns down there, but nothing huge, and no strong demonic activity in the area. 

Southeast off the continent was Fortuna. That would probably be enough to attract Nero, especially with the broken hellgates, but she didn’t know how he was planning on getting there. He couldn’t fly, and all that armor hadn’t looked particularly buoyant. 

Dante caught up to Nero in a swamp. Lady ran onto the beach to the harsh clangs of a swordfight, ringing almost faster than she can process. 

Dante was using the Red Queen. Everytime he revved it Nero - was it Nero? - twitched. The demon looked more like a Proto Angelo than Nero. Now that she was looking for it, she could recognize Trish’s sword (the Sparda), but there didn’t seem to be anything else identifying - none of Nero’s trademark dropkicks, or headbashes, or loud shouts. The Angelo hadn’t spoken at all, but was doing his absolute best to decapitate Dante. 

In contrast, Dante seemed to be doing more dodging than anything. 

“What are you doing?” Lady muttered to herself, bringing out the Kalina Ann II. “You’re not going to hurt him.” Any creature of Urizen’s making was bound to be tough, and that was just the armor out the outside - Nero by himself could take a good beating, too. Dante didn’t have anything to worry about - they just needed to pry that armor off. Sword to any of the joints would probably be best, but keeping her distance and a rocket would do. 

She aimed for the head and fired. 

The Angelo staggered sideways on contact and fell into a shallow pool of water. She saw Dante fire a full round from Ebony and Ivory into the water, but the Angelo dodged just fine, kicking up a wave of water as he jumped back onto the beach. 

The helmet was gone. Lady switched to her semi-automatic rifle as she cataloged what was definitely Nero underneath. His mouth and nose were covered by a black - something, she could only assume it was a muzzle - but the rest of his head was recognizable. His hair was the same. His skin was bleached to almost the same shade of white, but that was understandable after almost a year of being cooped up. She started firing, but Nero shot forward, lunging at Dante, who just stood there, he- 

Dante got stabbed straight in the chest, and fell backwards into the sand. 

“DANTE!” Lady shouted, charging forward herself. She fired continuously at Nero, but she couldn’t see well through the small red explosion as Dante triggered. She caught sight of Nero again, pushed back to the other side of the beach, but he took one look between her and Dante’s demon form and decided to turn and high-tail it out of there, weaving through the swamp grass. She fired a few shots after him, but they didn’t do any damage to his thick armor. “Dante,” she repeated, panting, skidding to a halt at his side. “He’s getting away!” 

He just groaned, his devil voice not making the sound any less pathetic. 

“What’s the matter with you?” Lady asked. “You can catch him! I know you can!” 

Dante phased back to his human form all at once, still lying on his back in the sand. “Lady, shut up.” 

“Ex _ cuse  _ you?” she said, whipping around and pointing her rifle at Dante. “Nero was right here! You could have saved him!” 

He squeezed his eyes shut, taking deep breaths, and didn’t answer her. 

“Goddamn it, Dante, all we need to do is get the armour off. How hard is that?” Lady snapped. “Nero saved me, so I’m going to save Nero, and you’re going to help me do it because  _ you owe me.  _ Remember?” 

“I can’t do it,” he breathed. 

“What?!” she squawked. 

Dante jackknifed into a sitting position. “I said I can’t do it, Lady!” he shouted. “I’m not going to kill Nero, ok?”

“You’re not going to kill him!” 

“What if he’d rather die than lose?” he said. “He looked right at me and he didn’t even know me, he was pissed off at the sound of his own sword, I don’t know if he’s reachable in there.” 

“You’re  _ Dante,”  _ Lady said. “You’re  _ the  _ legendary devil hunter, remember? You stopped Mundus! You can save-”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dante snapped. 

She stuck her hand on her hip. “Fine. Then tell me! Tell me what’s bothering you so much!” 

“I killed Vergil!” he shouted, and then he stopped. 

Lady sighed, wilting, the fight bleeding out of her. She put the rifle away and then sat down next to Dante, sand cool against her skin. “Dante,” she said, slow, because she could count on her fingers how many times he’d mentioned his brother’s name out loud in the decades she’d known him. “You didn’t kill Vergil. He made a decision to stay in hell. He’s obviously still alive.” 

“You don’t understand,” he said. “I never told you about Mallet Island.”

“So tell me now.” 

Dante glanced over at her, clearly looking like talking about himself out loud was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Fine,” Lady said. “I’m going to just sit here and talk to myself, then. Vergil, age 19, tries to open a door to hell on earth and steal some power off you while he’s at it. He manages to open a door to hell just long enough to slip through, but you shut the gate behind him. Vergil’s been living in hell ever since, right?” 

Dante was staring at the sand, eyebrows raised, which clearly meant that she’d gotten several points of the story wrong, but whatever. 

“Vergil, age 18, goes to Fortuna and fathers Nero,” Lady starts again. This gets a twitch out of Dante, like always. “Nero grows up and eventually finds the Yamato. Which means…” she frowned, because she hadn’t actually thought about this before. “Vergil had to come back to Fortuna in the meantime and leave the Yamato there? Do you think he was back in the human world to see Nero?” 

“Ha,” Dante said. “Nice try, but no. The Yamato made its way to Fortuna on its own, maybe with a little help from the Order.” 

“Alright, alright,” Lady said. “So sometime while down in hell, Vergil is separated from the Yamato. Did he throw it away?” She frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Vergil - it’s not like he got a newer, better sword in the meantime, because he came back for it. So Vergil...what, lost it?” 

“Lost everything,” Dante mumbled, staring straight ahead. “He lost to Mundus sometime after he fell . Mundus had him brainwashed and corrupted. He went by Nelo Angelo.” 

Lady’s heart thumped, and she heard all over again  _ what if he’d rather die than lose.  _ “Oh my god, Dante.” 

“Nero looks just like him,” Dante said, and his hands clenched into fists at his side. 

Lady took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll get a new plan.” 

Dante looked over at her. “Are there any other options here?” he said. “I didn’t get into this business for my brains. If there’s a demon, we fight it.” 

“We’re due for a rematch with your bastard brother,” she said. “If Urizen’s dead, Nero has no one controlling him. Just this once, we’ll go around a problem rather than through it.” 

He snorted. “If we can find him.” 

“We’ve got some options to try,” she said, and pushed herself to her feet, brushing sand off her clothes. “Why’s he even going by Urizen these days, anyway?” She reached her hand down to pull Dante up. 

Dante gave her another look - an  _ I clearly have the answer to your question but I’m done acknowledging the fact that Vergil exists in relation to me for the next quarter-century  _ look - and grabbed her hand, jumping to his feet also. “We’re not starting with the stupid summoning thing, are we?” 

“Oh, we definitely are,” Lady said. “Worked with Nero, didn’t it?” 

Dante huffed, but followed her back to her car. 

* * *

They didn’t have to look very hard for Urizen. 

Far away, in the midst of a new human city, the Qlipod erupted from the ground as they spoke. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still working on the last chapter, but as a warning the ending will likely be bittersweet.


	3. Nero Angelo, Vergil, Morrison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Urizen comes looking for Nero Angelo, and the Qliphoth bears fruit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is the price of Experience? Do men buy it for a song? Or wisdom for a dance in the street?   
> No, it is bought with the price of all that a man hath: his house, his wife, his children.  
> -William Blake
> 
> Starts of with a little bit of the events from last chapter from Nero Angelo's POV, and then moves on.

_Part 8: Nero Angelo_

The first thing he remembered in a long time was ~~the Nero Angelo~~ _(he was the Nero Angelo, why would he think otherwise?)_ panicking. 

He looked around. This was not his Master’s kingdom. There were some demonic animals making a nuisance of themselves, but mostly...humans. There shouldn’t be humans here. 

Where was King Urizen? He had to go report back in, before...before...he didn’t know. He’d never ~~managed to~~ _(he’d never wanted to, why would he think that?)_ run away before. 

“Wait!” a human girl shouted behind him, and he paused despite himself. 

It was a mistake ~~a betrayal~~ ( _how would it be a betrayal? she didn’t know him),_ because he was immediately hit in the chest with some kind of projectile, and all of a sudden the demonic energy in the clearing quadrupled as a nightmaresque amalgamation appeared from nowhere. The Nero Angelo pulled out his sword and rushed the beast. For all its power, it was slow, and as long as he could dodge- 

-one of the humans was shooting at him, he’d have to deal with that- 

_“NERO!?”_

~~The driver snorting at something he said, rolling down the window and sticking her cigarette out, reaching over and handing him another devil breaker, staring in awe the first time he takes down demon after demon in front of her~~ _(why is he so ANGRY all of a sudden-)_

The Nero Angelo sliced the monster in half with his sword, and shoved the closer half in the direction of the shooting human. He runs away after that, to the forest, blood roaring through his ears, trying to keep something inside of him under control. Wrath? Bloodlust, maybe. He shouldn’t be experiencing these things - he missed the calming presence of his Master, where he didn’t have to feel or struggle or figure things out on his own. 

He needed to get back to King Urizen. He had no idea how. 

Randomly, he picked a direction and started trudging. 

* * *

He walks on relentlessly, the bright sun irritating his eyes and the lack of other demons making his skin crawl. He didn’t come across any other sentient beings until the next day, when he met the red devil hunter. Dante, he thought, thinking of Urizen’s hated rival, but Urizen had killed all his enemies. Dante was dead. 

This red hunter was a cheap knock-off version at best, and the Nero Angelo was looking forward to killing him. This red hunter was using _the wrong sword -_ the Nero Angelo instantly hated it, because the red hunter was obviously not left-handed and was trying anyways ~~and was~~ ~~_butchering it_ , honestly. If he was going to use a sword like that, use it _right,_ old man. ~~

And then the shooting human showed up too. Gross. She landed a lucky shot to his helmet, cracking it in two and knocking him into the nearby water where it was instantly washed away. He was back on his feet instantly, eyes burning in the harsh sunlight, and he charged the red hunter and- 

-the red hunter triggered- 

The Nero Angelo staggered backwards, because he knew a powerful devil when he saw one, and Dante was alive after all. 

He ran after that. He had to inform King Urizen. 

King Urizen came for him, as he always did. 

* * *

Cavaliere Angelo, the fastest and second-fiercest of King Urizen’s knights, found him first. 

The Nero Angelo had never cared for Cavaliere. She was always critiquing his sword technique, and he got a strange itchy feeling whenever he saw her. Probably just the suspicion that she wasn’t 100% loyal to Master. 

“There you are,” she said. “Master has been looking for you. Where were you?” 

Nero Angelo shrugged, gesturing to the Earth. His mouth was still clamped shut by his jaw-piece. 

“How did you get here? And what happened to your helmet?”

Nero Angelo mimed a gun, since he couldn’t speak. 

“Humans,” Cavaliere scoffed. “Come on. Master is waiting for us.” 

She summoned a horse for him - she’d collected a whole herd of Geryons down in hell - and they rode to a large human city with a Qliphoth wreaking destruction in the middle. He and Cavaliere didn’t stop for any of the human carnage. They passed a familiar looking vehicle on the way, a van that was there when the humans first summoned him, but their horses were going to fast for him to notice anything else and he decides not to mention it. 

Master is waiting for them on his throne at the top. 

“Nero Angelo,” King Urizen declared, dismissing Cavaliere with a wave of his hand. “My greatest creation. You’ve been damaged. How much are you experiencing?” 

The Nero Angelo stared at him. He doesn’t understand the question, and he couldn’t answer if he wanted to. His mouth was still muzzled shut. 

“There is no time to forge new armor for you,” Master said. “You must be very careful during your next mission. I am sending you out with Cavaliere Angelo and Malphas.” 

The Nero Angelo raised his eyebrows. 

“Your mission is to kill Dante,” Master said. “Malphas can create portals, and Cavaliere can influence time, but you. Only you have the true power to kill him. Do you understand?” 

Nero Angelo blinked. How did Master know that Dante was alive? Nero Angelo just found out, and he hadn’t told- 

_“Nero Angelo,”_ Urizen said, rising from his throne. He took one step forward and placed his hand on Nero Angelo’s head. 

The Nero Angelo is on his knees the next instant, clutching his temples like they would fall apart if he didn’t. There’s something leaking from his eye sockets - blood, he thought, smelling as it dripped down his face. He wasn’t sure what he’d done, but he wouldn’t do it again. Master was always right. Master... ~~bastard…~~

“You will kill Dante,” King Urizen said. “Do you understand?” 

The Nero Angelo nodded, once, and then he stepped to his feet and turned away, black cape sweeping behind him. 

“Wait,” Urizen called. 

He stopped. 

“One more thing,” Urizen said, motioning Nero Angelo around. With a frown on his face, he reached into Nero Angelo’s chest armor and delicately plucking out a chain - a necklace, a silver necklace, some kind of winged design. The Nero Angelo’s brow furrowed as he stared at it. When had he gotten that? Had he always had it? ~~It was a gift from her~~ Had his King given it to him? “So he knows who you are,” Urizen said softly. “When you drive the light from his eyes.” 

Nero Angelo looked up at Urizen, who seemed practically uncomfortable under his gaze. “You will bring me power,” he muttered, almost to himself, and then ordered, “You may go.” 

So the Nero Angelo turned around again, and went to kill Dante. 

* * *

They find Dante, and the annoying human with the guns, and the laughably weak summoner at the bottom of the Qliphoth. Truth be told, Calviere and Malphas do not need him. Dante’s companions are more of a hindrance than a help, and he constantly has to divert his attacks to cover their weaknesses. 

The Nero Angelo decided to wait until Dante is tired. The red devil hunter seemed inclined to ignore him, anyways. Nero Angelo watched in boredom until his eyes detected an extra source of movement - something that shouldn’t be there. 

Another human was entering. The auburn-haired girl...she was there when he was summoned. 

She is not carrying a weapon. Worse than useless. 

The girl stared up at him with wide eyes as she approached him fearlessly, ignoring the battle at their feet. He cocked his head, and reached behind his back for his sword. It almost seems like a waste of energy to kill her, but she shouldn’t be here. “Nero,” she said suddenly, and he paused. 

How does she know his name? 

“Nero,” she repeated, and reached for him, her fingers almost brushing his chestplate. He flinched backwards, and drew his sword the rest of the way. “Wait!” the girl cried.

He raised his sword to her neck. 

“Can you hear me?” she asked. 

He pressed his sword forward, a fraction of an inch, just enough to break her skin. Blood immediately ran from the puncture wound, and his arm was suddenly trembling. “I want to join you,” the girl blurted out. 

He holds his position, just barely digging into her neck, not killing her. He was struck instantly with the notion that she was worth more alive. 

The girl raised her chin higher, defiantly, and whispered, “please.” 

He dropped his arm, sheathing his sword quickly again on his back. The sounds of the battle were suddenly so muted; all that mattered was the sound of the girl’s breathing in front of him, and the slow oozing of blood own her neck. 

“Are you there?” she asked quietly. 

He doesn’t understand the question, so he just stared at her. 

“Nero,” she said, and her voice is making his head hurt. She took another step forward, raising a hand, and his eyes snap to it like she could kill him. “You’re still wearing it,” she said, and her fingers go to touch the silver necklace he’s wearing - the necklace King Urizen gave him - 

Her fingers made contact and he punched her away instantly, before she could blink. She went flying, tumbling across the ground of the Qliphoth, landing in a heap on the ground and cradling her jaw. A red impact mark was bruising before his eyes. 

The girl spit out some blood on the ground and stared up at him with steady eyes. Unlike him, she didn’t seem to be shaking at all. “Okay,” she said, voice a little clumsy from just being sacked in the face. “I won’t touch you, but I do still want to join you. Take me to Urizen.” 

He can’t abandon his mission to take this girl to his Master. Dante had to die - Master had ordered it. He could wait, he decided. The girl would still be here when Dante was dead. Maybe if he made the kill stylishly enough, she would even be impressed, and then...then he could…

~~take her away~~

He couldn’t _not_ take her to his Master. King Urizen would know. He _had to_ obey King Urizen- 

“Please,” the girl said. 

The Nero Angelo turned on his heel and walked away, black cape billowing behind him. 

The girl didn’t demand that he stop and wait for her. She scrambled to her feet and followed. 

* * *

It wasn’t a long climb to King Urizen’s throne, but it wasn’t a short one, either. The girl would not stop talking. He wished she would; it was making his head ache. 

“I thought there would be more demons on the way up,” she was saying, quietly. He could feel her gaze burning into his back. “Are there ever any demons here, or did you just order them away?” 

Against his better judgement, he glanced back at her. Her skin was too pale against the background of the Qliphoth. 

“I kind of like the cape,” she said. She licked her lips, and then said, “I hope I get a cape too.” 

He turned back around, and kept walking. 

“I...I’m not sure about the eyes, though,” Kyrie the girl said. “They’re...super red. That’s the most red I’ve ever seen them. It looks painful.” 

The girl is stupid, he thought. Everything is painful. That’s just how the world is. This is why humans get struck down so easily. 

He felt a tug on his cape, and turned around quickly to shove her away. She stumbled but didn’t stop staring at him. “I’m not a big fan of the mouthguard, either,” she said. “Can you remove it?” 

He glared at her and shook his head. Then he turned around and kept walking. Every step away from her made his head feel better. Every step away from her made his chest feel worse. 

“Nero, wait!” she called, running after him. “Nero, please, just take it off. Just _talk to me._ Please. One last time.” 

He ignored her and quickened his pace. The Nero Angelo was incapable of speech - he’d never spoken out loud in his entire life. He didn’t have a voice. 

She caught up to him and walked directly at his side, like they were equals, panting to keep up with his long strides. “I don’t care,” she huffed, brushing back her bangs. “Ignore me all you want, Nero, I’m not leaving you. We said we’d be together forever.” 

His head aches. His chest aches. He has to take her to Master. Master would know what to do with her. They were almost there.

“Nero,” the girl said, and she suddenly sounded much smaller. “Did it...did it hurt a lot?”

He turned his head to stare at her, and for the first time she shrunk under his gaze. 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you.”

He snarled at her. 

“I know, I know,” she said. “You’re the one that does the saving. You always do.” 

He hates her, he realized suddenly. Her words were ringing in his ears and his blood was burning hot in his body and he’d never hated anything, before, not like he hates her. He wants her _gone._ He wants her far away from this place, he wants to drop her off and then go down to kill something, properly. Dante would have to do. No more playing around. 

Hating her, he pushed open the door to King Urizen’s throne. 

* * *

Master is not surprised to see him. He seems more curious than displeased. 

“Nero Angelo,” he announced, and the girl started trembling. “Why have you abandoned your mission?” 

“For me,” the girl said, and her voice was steady even though her legs were not. “I want to become one of you. I asked him to bring me here.” 

King Urizen’s gaze did not leave the Nero Angelo for a long time - it’s a full minute before he shifts his gaze to the girl. “What power do you have to offer me, human?” 

“I’ll be one of them,” she replied, voice hard, gesturing in Nero Angelo’s direction. “I’ll serve you just like Nero does.” 

“A foolish offer,” Master said, and a tentacle stirred at his feet. The Nero Angelo tensed - Master was going to kill her, he was sure. Or he was going to instruct Nero Angelo to kill her. Master definitely looked disgusted. 

“Human weakness,” his Master said, and he raised an arm to the girl. “Pathetic. Come here, worm.” 

The girl bites her lip, and moved to take a step forward. 

The Nero Angel found himself in front of her. 

_“Nero Angelo,”_ Urizen said, his voice vibrating throughout the entire room. “Get out of her way.” 

He was growling from the back of his throat. He’d done that before in his existence, but belatedly, he realized this time he did indeed have a voice. 

“I will give you your plaything,” Urizen promised. “You can have her.” 

He hates her. He does not want her with him. He tried to tell Urizen this, but his jaw was stiff from lack of use and he could barely remember how to generate a sound. 

“Or I will destroy her,” Urizen said. “Obey me, or I will be forced to destroy you again too.” 

He managed a noise from his mouth, but it was muffled through his mouthguard. 

Behind him, the girl reached forward and put both hands on his right forearm. “Let me go, Nero,” she said. “It’s okay.” 

_“It’s not okay,”_ he tried to tell her, but he couldn’t move his jaw properly and the words came out unintelligible. He’d made a mistake, bringing her to Urizen. If she worked for Urizen then she would be with him, all the time. He hates her too much for that. 

“Nero Angelo-”

 _“In a minute,”_ he tried to snap. He had to figure out a plan to get her out. He absolutely could not let what happened to him happen to her. 

“I will make you strong,” Urizen said, rising to his feet impatiently. “I will give you the power to never lose anything again.” He raised a hand, and Qliphoth vines erupted at his feet. “This is what you need, Nero Angelo. Even if you cannot see it.” 

A laser shot towards the girl. 

* * *

_Part 9: Nero_

_May 29 4:13 PM_

_“FUCK YOU!”_

Nero exploded out of the stupid bodysuit, shooting in front of Kyrie and blocking the blast with his arm. His devil bringer arm. His entire body was transformed like his devil bringer arm. 

“Round fucking three, asshole!” he shouted. 

Urizen roared with fury, armor flaking off his body to reveal a hundred eyes, all glaring at him with murderous intent. Nero grabbed Kyrie behind him with one of his wings (wings!!!) and looked around for a safe place to drop her - there wasn’t one. She wrapped her arms around his neck and seemed to have a pretty good grip on his new demonic hair (long hair!!!), so he gave up and left Kyrie on his back. 

He’d gone full-blown Devil Trigger. 

Urizen was toast. 

Actually, pumped up on freedom and the sound of Kyrie’s exhilarated screams in his ears, Urizen wasn’t a challenge at all. _This_ was the demon that took his right arm? That took down Dante? That kidnapped him and made him into a slave? He was so slow! He was slow, and clumsy, and the Yamato was barely responding to him. Nero easily knocked the red crystal out of the way and proceeded to beat the shit out of Urizen. 

When Urizen toppled, it was almost in slow-motion. Nero landed by the demon’s side with his sword (still the Sparda; he was never using it again after this) and waited there, twitching. 

Kyrie slid off his back. Now that he was in is Devil Trigger form, she seemed more delicate than ever. “Gun?” she asked, sticking out a hand. 

“What?” Nero asked. His Devil voice was grating. 

“Blue Rose,” Kyrie said. “Can I borrow it?” 

Nero fumbled with the request. He no longer had a holster strapped to him, but as soon as he thought about Blue Rose, it appeared in his hand, so he handed it to Kyrie. Urizen twiched, trying to stand back up, and Nero flinched, baring his teeth. 

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Kyrie unloaded all three shots into Urizen’s abdomen. Urizen groaned and half of his hundred eyes fluttered closed. 

“Phew,” Kyrie said, turning to him. Her eyes roved over his Devil form. “I’ve wanted to do that all year.” 

“Kyrie,” Nero said, taking a step forward, and he melted back into his human form. Kyrie met him in the middle, jumping up to throw her arms around him. He dropped the Sparda and caught her, staggering back under her weight, burying his head in her shoulder. 

“Nero,” she said. “You came back. I knew you would.” 

He pressed his face harder into the crook of her neck. His eyes were suddenly very wet. “Kyrie, that was _so stupid.”_

“I missed you so much _,”_ she answered. 

He fell slowly to his knees, bringing Kyrie gently with him, not letting go as he let out a sob into her hair. “Hey, it’s okay,” she said, squeezing him tighter. “We’re alright.”

He swallowed, getting his voice under control. This was one hell of an adrenaline crash. “You scared the hell out of me,” he said hoarsely, pulling away so he could look her in the eye. “Kyrie, why-”

“You know why,” Kyrie said, and then kissed him. 

They pulled apart and the loud roar of a motorcycle engine. “Hey!” the rider shouted from a distance, speeding through and breaking right in front of them. Dante leapt off, his coat flaring behind him. 

“Dante!” Nero shouted, rising to his feet. A euphoric feeling that he hadn’t been able to process before bloomed in his chest. “You’re alive! We thought Urizen had killed you!”

“Right back atcha, Nero,” Dante said. He glanced at Urizen for a moment, seemingly to make sure he was really down, before stalking forward. “You feeling okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m f-”

Dante’s shoulder collided with his chin. Nero struggled for a second inside the tackle before he realized it was a hug, and at that point Dante was already pulling away. “Good,” Dante said roughly, and then pounded on a chest with his fist and cleared his throat. “You know, saving the world is kind of my thing. There’s some paperwork you have to fill out before you start taking these sorts of assignments wily nily - Devil May Cry official, you understand -”

“Shut up,” Nero interrupted, beaming. He pulled Dante into a hug and squeezed this time, blinking to keep his eyes clear of tears. “Is Trish okay?” 

Dante squeezed back. “Yeah, we got her.” 

Nero pulled back, a breathless laugh on his lips, and reached for Kyrie’s hand. “That’s everyone,” he said, looking from Dante to Kyrie and back. “We saved everyone!” 

Dante snorted and shook his head, but there was a small smile playing on his lips. “Man, with work like that we may have to promote you.” 

“Does it come with a raise?” Nero asked.

Dante grinned. “Whoa, now, let’s not get hasty. You did just take a lot of surprise time off.” 

“If I don’t get a raise, I’m going to start a rival business,” Nero teased. “I’ll name it _Devil that Saves Devil May Cry.”_

“That’s gotta be a copyright violation,” Dante replied. “Or trademark, or whatever...” He trailed off as his gaze slid to the side, back towards Urizen. 

“What?” Nero asked, turning back around. 

Dante squinted. “V?” he asked, and now that he said it Nero could make out a figure, chunks missing from his skin like an old marble statue, crouching over Urizen’s chest. “Oh,” Dante breathed quietly, and then screamed, “VERGIL, NO-”

* * *

_Part 10: Vergil_

_May 29, 4:27 PM_

It was a defiance against reality for him to still dare to exist, his own rebellion he’d been carrying out ever since his mother had died. Reality cracked in the face of his latest mutiny. 

Not really. The Qliphoth was just expanding, branches rising in height above them, letting in more of the late afternoon light. It must be getting ready to bear fruit soon. 

Amidst all the crackling of branches and rapidly expanding vines, there was one voice. A voice tattooed into his memory no matter how hard Mundus had tried to scrub it out. “Vergil,” Dante growled, barely audible. 

He turned around. 

Dante was there, faithful red coat and all. Beside him, a human girl - Nero Angelo’s girl - and beside her - 

_Nero-_

Vergil blinked under the assault of a hundred memories. Nero, sacrificing himself for V. Nero Angelo, crying tears of blood until permanent red stained his cheeks. 

Nero, his nephew. 

He wanted to vomit - no. He wanted to rage at Dante for letting this _child_ fight his battles for him. 

_("I told you to leave Nero out of it."_

_"You were missing. Presumed dead. Trust me, if I had any other option I wouldn't have dreamed of using that...child. It’s been a month.")_

_(“FUCK YOU!”)_

Nero was disarmed. He’d never picked the Sparda back up. Dante wasn’t using a devil arm - he was carrying human sword, one that didn’t even suit him. Taking them down now would be easy. 

“Vergil!” Dante repeated, louder. He didn’t make any accusations verbally. He didn’t make any accusations at all. 

Vergil felt them anyway. He turned on his heel and slashed a portal open in space. He didn’t know where it went. 

“VERGIL!” 

He sent a summoned sword to trip Dante before he could catch up, and vanished. 

* * *

“Well, well, well,” Griffin said. “You still look like shit. I thought the cracking would have gone away with V.”

The damned portal had brought him here, to his familiars, at the top of the Qliphoth. They were circling the branch where the fruit would erupt. Hoping to nab it for themselves, or guarding it for him? “Griffin,” Vergil acknowledged, gritting his teeth.

“I heard what you did to Nero. _Nelo.”_

Shadow stared at him with unblinking eyes. Her tail whipped back and forth behind her. Nightmare stood silently in the back. 

“Gotta say, we preferred V, but Urizen had moxie,” Griffin said. “I thought Dante was deadzo, and the whole Nero Angelo thing?” 

“I _didn’t remember,”_ Vergil ground out. 

“Dead ringer,” Griffon said. “It was almost impressive.” 

“Would you be quiet?” 

“Eh,” Griffin said. “I’m not bound to you anymore, so. No.”

“I’ll kill you,” he said, drawing the Yamato, and resolutely ignoring the spiderweb fractures that still spanned every inch of his skin. 

“Will you?” Griffon said. “We’re of you, Vergil. Nelo Angelo, that is. If you kill us, you’ll forget Nelo Angelo. And you’ll never know what Nero Angelo went through. Is that what you want?” 

No. “I don’t care,” Vergil said, pointing his blade at Griffon. “Nero means nothing to me.” 

Shadow growled. 

“Yeah, right. Do you think we’re idiots?” Griffon said, staring back unimpressed. “Nero meant a shitton to V.” 

V had just wanted to be protected and loved. Nero had protected him to his dying breath, and V had agonized over that for the rest of his existence. “V was weak,” Vergil spat. “He spent more time in stasis than out.” 

“How frustrating it must be,” Griffon said. “You fought for so long to leave Hell, and you’ve created one of your own invention.”

Vergil slashed at Griffon, once, sending a singular judgement cut his way. It clipped Griffon’s wing, so Griffon squawked and fluttered away, landing awkwardly on Nightmare’s shoulder.

Shadow jumped to stand in front of them both, growling with hair standing on end, a twitch away from filling the air with deadly needles. 

Vergil re-sheathed the Yamato. “Take care of yourselves,” he said. “I wouldn’t care to lose anything else.” 

“If you want us, you’ll have to take us with you,” Griffon said, much softer and more serious than usual. 

“I don’t need you,” Vergil sneered. 

“Your call.” 

He stared down at his three former tormentors. Companions. He wanted desperately to leave them behind, these parasites that recklessly drained his power and life force and provided nothing but pain in return. He didn’t want any reminder of Nelo Angelo left on the planet.

If he killed them now, Nero Angelo would carry that alone. 

“Fine,” Vergil snapped. “Don’t fall behind.” 

Griffin perked up. “You got it, boss. You want the tattoos again? V thought they looked-”

“Rule number one of this partnership,” Vergil interrupted. “No speaking unless spoken to.”

“Aw, come on.” 

“No _talking_ -” 

He was interrupted by the smallest of tremors, coming straight from the Qliphoth itself. A singular fruit, almost apple-like it its appearance, manifested on the lone branch. All three of his demons turned to stare at it. 

_This is power,_ he realized. The fruit seemed to thrum with the same frequency of his heartbeat. It was the power he’d been chasing his entire life, ever since his mother had been murdered. It was the power never again fall to his enemies. It was the power to never be hurt like that again-

_“VERGIL!”_

He snagged the fruit from the branch, lightning-quick, and whipped around to face Dante. Dante strode into the clearing with his red coat flaring behind him and an unfamiliar sword on his shoulder. The sword glinted blood-red down the middle with demonic energy. “Don’t do it, Vergil,” Dante ordered. 

“Dante,” he rasped. “You’re looking...well.” 

“No thanks to you,” Dante said. “If you wanted a welcome home party, you could have told me. No need to bring the decorations from hell.” 

“Where’s Nero?” 

Dante’s demeanor shifted, going deathly serious. “He’s also fine, no thanks to you. Just taking a break, considering all he’s been through. What were you _thinking?”_

Urizen hadn’t been thinking, at least not the way Vergil would have, but it was no use explaining that to Dante. His brother would never believe him. “I was thinking he was powerful, even for a boy.” 

“Nero’s your son, Vergil,” Dante spat. “Did you know that?” 

Vergil froze, because - no - but Dante didn’t lie. Still...“are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I’m goddamn sure,” Dante said. 

Vergil’s mind flashed backwards, to the last time he spent any significant time on earth. When he was eighteen...Fortuna...maybe? “That was a long time ago,” he said faintly. 

“Give me the fruit, Vergil,” Dante ordered again, quieter this time. 

His fingers clenched tighter around the fruit in his hand in defiance. “No.” He _needed_ it. Dante didn’t understand. He’d never been unmade. 

“I’ll fight you for it,” Dante said. 

Neither of them had acknowledged the three demons at their side, but Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare bristled at these words, like they were itching for a fight. Vergil eyed Dante and his new sword thrumming with power - despite the help his familiars would provide, Vergil was still weak, and Dante had only grown stronger. What did Dante need the fruit for?

Maybe if Nero was asking…

Vergil stamped down on the thought, hard, banishing it from his mind like he’d had long practice doing. “An interesting thought,” he said, holding the fruit up to eye level, “although I will have to decline.” 

He ate the fruit in one bite. 

He felt the power rippling through him, knitting his skin back together, and Vergil shuddered as he tried to keep a hold of himself. The power to kill whoever he wanted. The power to never fall to his enemies, to never lose. He would be unstoppable. 

In front of him, Dante furrowed his brows, and moved his new sword into a battle stance. “I really wish you hadn’t just done that, brother.”

What did Dante know of loss? 

Vergil smirked, and drew the Yamato slowly, relishing the shine of the blade in the late afternoon light. “I have no regrets,” he said. 

“Seriously?” Dante asked. “None at all, whatsoever? How about swan-diving off the last giant tower you raised?” 

Vergil bared his teeth, and this time he didn’t stop the flow of power racing through him, transforming into his devil form. It was new - bigger, stronger. An ultimate devil. “Would you like a taste of the experience, little brother?” 

“I won’t lose to the likes of you!” Dante shouted, and transformed as well. His devil form was also different than Vergil remembered. 

“You’ve done nothing but,” Vergil hissed. “Or was I imagining _my son_ stepping up to do your job?” 

Dante roared and leapt at him, his devil arm hitting the Yamato with a clash that wrung through the air for several seconds afterward. Vergil pushed up off and teleported back, out of the way of two red summoned swords. Looks like Dante had finally picked up a few tricks, then. 

They fought relentlessly, fluttering in and out of devil form. Whatever Dante had done since being defeated by Urizen, it clearly gave him enough boost in power to match Vergil, stroke for stroke. It was like no other fight he’d ever had before. At the same time, it was like every bout against Dante he’d ever had. 

Vergil stepped aside to dodge a bullet that whistled by his ear while Dante simultaneously did the same to avoid a summoned sword. They met in the middle, Yamato sliding down the edge of Dante’s Devil Sword. “You can’t kill me,” Vergil remarked, and then flipped away. 

Dante rolled once more to dodge another barrage of swords. “I’ve done it before.” 

“Clearly,” Vergil snarled, rushing in with a Judgement Cut. It missed. “you were unsuccessful.” 

“I won’t be this time!” 

Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare were still pacing around the edge of the arena, waiting to be called. Vergil knew that the moment he summoned them, Dante would be overwhelmed. They were evenly matched now - with Vergil’s familiars, he wouldn’t stand a chance. Dante had to know that too. “Foolishness, brother.” 

“What’s my alternative?” Dante said. “I let you go free to rule the world? What kind of place would a world under Vergil be?” 

Dante had no idea. Vergil’s goal, always, had just been to _survive._ “You and your humans, Dante,” Vergil sneered, the words heavy on his tongue. 

“Humanity isn’t something to be discarded!” Dante shouted. “You think you would have _learned that_ by now!” 

“You’ve got it backwards,” Vergil said. “Humanity has always discarded me.” 

Dante parried a blow from the Yamato, but paused instead of instantly entering a Riposte. “What are you talking about?” he said. “You’re the one who _muzzled_ your own _son.”_

_(“Hey, are you hungry?” Nero asked casually, jumping down from the hood of the van. “You’re in luck, because the food’s ready and Kyrie always makes too much-")_

_(“V! RUN!”)_

Vergil paused also, tilting his head to stare at Dante. “Does Nero know?” he asked quietly. “About me? I didn’t get the impression that he did.” 

Dante stared back. He looked suddenly so much older. “No,” he answered back. “No. I never told him.” 

Vergil nodded, and slid the Yamato back into her sheath. “I’m surprised he didn’t follow you up here to finish the job.” 

“He’s exhausted, Vergil. He’s been through enough.”

Vergil knew the feeling. Absentmindedly, he slid a hand into the inside of his coat, against the pocket where V had always kept his Blake collection. The book was still there, and he drew it out. “What is the price of experience?” he recited. “Do men buy it for a song? Or wisdom for a dance in the street?” 

Dante’s brow furrowed. “Are you quoting poetry at me right now?” he said. “Seriously? Shit, Vergil, do you think we’re still six years old?” 

“No,” Vergil said, and he tossed the book at Dante. Dante dodged, of course, and it hit the ground with a small thud. “It is bought for the price of all a man has.” 

“Vergil?” Dante said, almost hesitant. 

“Give that to Nero for me,” Vergil said. “If you ever decide to tell him the truth.” 

“Giving up already?” 

Vergil turned his back to Dante, and strode towards the edge of the platform. “You’re right for once, Dante,” he said. “I don’t belong up here.” 

“Vergil,” Dante said. His voice sounded confused, almost like a plea, but Vergil didn’t turn. 

“The Yamato can handle the base of the Qliphoth,” Vergil said. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t interfere with your world anymore.” 

“Vergil,” Dante repeated, suddenly running forward. “Don’t fucking do this to me again, Vergil, this can be your world too-”

Vergil turned around, finally, freezing time around him. Dante was charging towards him, sword pointed down, hand outstretched. “Goodbye, brother,” he said, and stepped backwards off the edge. 

“WAIT-” Dante cried, staring down at him. He looked betrayed. He had no right to look betrayed. 

Vergil smirked and transformed once more, blue power clouding his view for a second. He blinked to clear his vision, and Dante on the edge was gone. 

He blinked again, and Dante was back on the edge. 

Dante jumped. 

* * *

_Part 11: Morrison_

_June 2nd, 1:00 PM_

Morrison looked up from the pile of junk mail he was sorting on Dante’s desk, and did a double take as he got a good look at the visitor. “Wow, you really are back from the dead.” 

“I wasn’t dead,” Nero said, crossing his arms. The kid looked like he hadn’t aged a day from his stint in hell. “How’s the shop?” 

“Still standing,” he said. “Which is more than I can say of some of Dante’s other missions. Speaking off, I hear you’re the last person to speak to Dante?” 

“Dante’s not dead either,” Nero snapped, scowling. "He's an asshole, but he's not dead." 

Morrison raised his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say he was. I just usually look after the shop for him while he’s gone.”

Nero scoffed, and pulled a whole-ass book out of one of his jacket pockets. “About that,” he said, sliding what looked like a receipt from into between the pages. “Dante left a message for me.” 

Morrison reached out and grabbed the piece of paper, crumpled like it had been stashed in the bottom of someone’s pocket for a very long time. On one side was a receipt for a large supreme pizza. On the other side was a hastily scrawled note. 

_Nero,_

_Vergil’s your father. Shop’s yours._

**Author's Note:**

> The original concept for this story was a complete apocalypse AU, but then Nero refused to go down without a fight. 
> 
> Feedback always appreciated.


End file.
